1997 in professional wrestling

1997 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable events in 1997.

Calendar of notable shows

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Notable events

January

• January 4 - WWF Shotgun Saturday Night debuts live from New York City, New York
• January 25 - New World Order has their nWo Souled Out Pay Per View live from Ceder Rapids, Iowa

February

• February 24 - ECW "invades" WWF Monday Night Raw

April

• April 13 - Extreme Championship Wrestling debuts live on Pay Per View for the first time with ECW Barely Legal from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania headlined with Sabu vs Tazz

August

• August 21 - The final WCW Clash of the Champions XXXV prime time special on TBS was held in Nashville, Tennessee headlined with Scott Hall and Randy Savage vs Lex Luger and Diamond Dallas Page.

November

• November 9 - The Montreal Screwjob
• After a long history of Memphis Wrestling the United States Wrestling Association closes its doors in November.

December

• December 30 - Jeff Jarrett defeated Blackjack Bradshaw on a WWF Raw is War taping in Uniondale, New York to win the NWA North American Heavyweight title .

Tournaments and accomplishments

AAA

AJW

AJPW

WCW

WWF

Slammy Awards

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame

Title changes

ECW

FMW

NJPW

WCW

WWF

Debuts

• Uncertain debut date

*Matt Bloom

*Droz (wrestler)

*Evan Karagias

*Michael Cole

*Justin Gabriel

*Rene Dupree

*Billy Boy

*Lodi

*Chilly Willy

*Rob Feinstein

*Rie Tanabe (SPWF)

• January 26 - Tony Kozina
• February 7 – Ernest Miller
• March 10 – Dennis Rodman
• March 15 – Ron Killings
• April 12 - Naoya Ogawa
• May 7 – Danny Doring
• May 17 – Seiya Morohashi
• May 26 – Kazuki
• June 23 – Bill Goldberg
• July 6 – Shoichi Ichimiya
• July 13 -
• August 2
• Don Frye
• Molly Holly
• September 5 - Perseus Jr. (IWA Japan)
• September 13 - Rocky Romero
• October 26 – Test
• November 21 - Nana Nakahara (All Japan Women's) and Noriko Toyoda (All Japan Women's)
• December 7 – Butterbean
• December 12 -

Births

• January 5 – Man Like DeReiss
• January 21 – Persia Pirotta
• January 23 – Kouki Amarei
• February 9 – Dan Moloney
• February 13 – Ren Ayabe
• February 28 – Ace Austin
• March 7 – Tyler Bate
• March 13 – Master Wato
• March 15 – Atticus Cogar
• March 20 – Ami Sohrei
• March 22 – Kid Lykos
• April 5 – Dominik Mysterio
• April 17 – Shota Umino
• May 19 – Saya Iida
• May 28 – Himeka Arita
• June 1 – Black Warrior Jr. (d. 2022)
• June 5 – Gigi Dolin
• June 9 – Myron Reed
• July 15 – Kohei Kinoshita
• July 18 – Alexxis Falcon
• July 21 – Levaniel
• August 2
• Austin Theory
• Mifu Ashida
• August 14 – Minorita
• August 25 – Cole Radrick
• September 3 – Hana Kimura (d. 2020)
• September 6 – Tsukushi Haruka
• September 16 – Yuuri
• September 29 – Hazuki
• October 24 – Bron Breakker
• October 27 – Ishin Iihashi
• November 21 – Yuya Koroku
• December 18 – Himawari
• December 19 – Kurtis Chapman (d. 2023)

Retirements

• Águila Solitaria (1978–1997)
• Bull Nakano (1983–1997)
• Denny Brown (1980–1997)
• Jeff Gaylord (1985–1997)
• Jimmy Del Ray (1985–1997)
• Jimmy Jack Funk (1980–1997)
• Ron Starr (1972-1997)
• Megumi Kudo (August 8, 1986 – April 29, 1997)
• Sivi Afi (1974–1997)
• Mike Sharpe (1973–1997)
• Tony Halme (1989- December 21, 1997)

Deaths

• January 24 - Dr. Jerry Graham, 68
• February 4 - Ray Apollon, 72
• February 5 – Bulldog Bob Brown, 58
• February 28
• Gorilla Marconi, 79
• Larry Tillman, 88
• March 10 - Aldo Bogni, 82
• March 24 - Dr. Bill Miller, 69
• April 17 - Mitsu Arakawa, 69
• June 19 – Stan Stasiak, 60
• June 30 – Larry O'Dea, 53
• July 24 - Brian Glover, 63
• August 16 – Plum Mariko, 29
• August 18 – Robert Swenson, 40
• August 30 – Dale Lewis (wrestler), 64
• August 31 – Danno O'Shocker, 73
• September 10 – Fritz Von Erich, 68
• September 15 – Bulldog Brower, 63
• October 5 – Brian Pillman, 35
• November 12 – Luke Brown, 62
• December 2 - Shirley Crabtree, 67

See also

• List of WCW pay-per-view events
• List of WWF pay-per-view events
• List of FMW supercards and pay-per-view events
• List of ECW supercards and pay-per-view events

References